In a year where life seemed to come to a standstill, the Sault Community Career Centre (SCCC) actively helped both employers and prospective employees find their perfect match with its free Employment Ontario services and programs. In addition, their webinars were helping job seekers upgrade their skills and gain job-search confidence and for newcomers to familiarize themselves with a new business community.
“Despite the challenges that 2020 presented, we didn’t stop offering services to clients even though, at times, we had to shift our service delivery model from in-person to phone, email, and virtual,” says Keith Brown, Manager of Community Programs & Communications, Sault Community Career Centre.
In 2020, SCCC helped 459 clients find employment and assisted 222 employers with their staffing needs. In addition, 789 jobs were advertised on behalf of local employers.
“We offer free HR support to all businesses, small, medium or large,” says Ryan Mead, Manager of Employment Programs, SCCC.
Once an employer has expressed interest and registers with SCCC, staff will look at their roster of job seeker clients to see if someone on-file may be a good fit for that employer. If there isn’t someone who meets the employer’s hiring criteria, they can help the employer create job postings and collect resumes and screen applicants. If requested, they can also assist with the interview and hiring process and host virtual job fairs.
For job seeker clients, an employment counsellor works one-on-one with them, offering job search assistance and support, including direct connections to local employers, cover letter and resume development, interview practice, coaching on self-promotion and skills development (if required) and setting career goals.
“Every job seeker client gets their own personalized action plan so that they can reach their employment goals,” says Mead.
Support for the employer and the new employee doesn’t end once the employee is hired either. “We can provide financial incentives to qualifying employers to help them recruit, hire, and train staff. We monitor and support each employment placement to ensure success and can provide mentoring and coaching during and after the employment placement,” says Mead.
Other specialized Employment Ontario programs, like the Canada-Ontario Job Grant, can help employers invest in their workforce by providing direct financial support to purchase training for their employees. It’s available to small, medium and large businesses who want to deliver short-term training to existing or new employees.
“These are employer-driven programs. If approved, up to 70 percent of training costs (up to $10,000 per person) for existing staff are reimbursed, and possibly 100 percent of training costs are reimbursed for new hires,” says Mead. He adds that there are several free services and programs for job seekers and employers, and they’re happy to discuss which one would be a good fit.
Both Mead and Brown say it’s important that people know that SCCC is more than just an “employment agency.” They are proud to be part of an organization that has helped thousands of people and established and maintained many great relationships with the community since 1992.
With a mission to improve people’s lives by helping them become and stay employed and to help businesses find lasting solutions to their staffing needs, they know they have a big job, and they’re up for it.
“The Sault Community Career Centre was established almost 30 years ago, and every year we help hundreds of people with their employment goals and work with businesses to fulfil their staffing needs. We want to help anyone who’s looking for work, from any field or background, and our services are always free,” says Brown. Webinars for job seekers continue to be offered and can be found on SCCC’s website and Facebook event page.
For more information about SCCC’s employment services, please visit www.saultcareercentre.ca, call 705.759.0909 or email [email protected]. The SCCC is located at 503 Queen Street East. During the provincial lockdown, SCCC be offering services over the phone, through email, and video conferencing only.